


The Green Hills of the Shire

by sleeperservice



Category: The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Gen, Introspection, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-07
Updated: 2019-12-07
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:20:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21707353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleeperservice/pseuds/sleeperservice
Summary: Sam and his friends return home from the Grey Havens, and Sam realizes why he's been left behind.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12
Collections: Writing Rainbow Green





	The Green Hills of the Shire

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Resilur](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Resilur/gifts).



In his mind, Sam knew that he could not have gone with them all over the Sea. There was still work to be done in the Shire, he still had his Rose and his Elanor and possibly many children to come, he had the gardens and the plantings and everything else. He was still of the world. Mr. Frodo had been passing out of the world for some time now. Sam could see that. A chill came over him and it was not just his thoughts of the waves on the Sea. Sam was now the master of Bag End. The last pages are yours, Mr. Frodo had said, and how much of a charge was that? To fill in the end of the story, the story that seemed so far greater than one gardening hobbit could make it?

In his heart was unreason. He should be going. He would be going, someday. The weight of the Ring had been not his to bear for long, but it still wore slightly. How could Mr. Frodo and Mr. Bilbo bear that weight for so, so long?

He turned to Merry and Pippin and nodded. It was time to get back to their home.

* * *

They said nothing as they rode back to the Shire. There was nothing much to say. They had to all be feeling it, this ending of things. They bore on resolutely home. There were no threats here as there had been on their journeys before; no skulking in bushes, no hiding under the covers of night. Things were safe on the outside. However, Sam felt as if he could not relax until the Shire was in sight.

After days, all three saw it; the fading greenness of the early autumn hills of the Shire. Home was there. Soon would come the crossroads and their parting. This parting would only be for now, at least. Merry and Pippin were still there. They weren't going anywhere.

Merry spoke first. "Well, it's over then. We're nearly home. And how have things been, Sam, at home?"

"Rose is fine, and little Elanor. She's so marvelous, you know, a perfect little flower."

Merry smiled. "I'll have to visit in the spring."

They rode on, silent and smiling, for a while more.

"Isn't it a shame," Sam said suddenly, "that all the wonder's gone out of our world now, over the Sea?"

Pippin thought on this a little while and then responded. "Sam, the wonder's still here. You planted it all over the Shire and it's still sprouting up."

It was as true as it could be; the mallorn was in the Party Field and he knew that generations from now, the mallorn would still be there. Hopefully, if the hobbits protected it. The threats in the world were not only magical. The Shire was proof of that. He remembered what Mr. Frodo had said as they rode to the Havens. The Red Book was their reminder, and what had happened would never pass out of memory.


End file.
